It’s a good thing that dumplings are small because Lee Anne’s goodies will make your willpower vanish as you reach for ‘just one more’. ~ Roger Mooking, Musician and Celebrity Chef

True confession. I have two massive obsessions in life, collecting cookbooks and eating dumplings. Both started sometime early in my adolescence and only intensified as I aged and cured. The limits of how far I would travel for either knows no boundaries and certainly there is no excess too great in order to obtain just one more. I attribute both of their roots directly to my dearly departed father Real. He was a classicist with an unbridled passion for literature and books combined with a mastery of language unmatched. He learned to speak, read and write fluently in Chinese and Arabic in less than two years through an aggressive immersion deep into their native cultures. Well, at least as immersed as one could be based in Chicago.

The ‘Arabic Years’ were spent sharing plates of kibbeh, hummus and pickled turnips in the smoke filled dingy back rooms with Lebanese taxi drivers teaching my father the finities of street Arabic between fares. During the ‘Chinese Years’, we visited many dim sum palaces in search of truth and enlightenment deep within the often hidden, underground populations of Chicago’s two Chinatowns. My father’s unabashed penchant for answering anyone who looked Chinese in perfect Chinese opened many secret doorways to hidden worlds of immigrants largely out of view from the general American public.

It was in the skilled hands of Chef Jimmy of Moon Palace that I experienced my first real profound dumpling revelation, a moment in time I can and will never forget.

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Why Pistou and Pastis?

Pistou is a very simple, rustic soup made with whatever is at hand, and evokes the very spirit of Provence in every bite. There is no one single recipe to adhere to, rather it is a joyous celebration of whatever is in season and inspires you to share your table with friends.

Pastis, on the other hand, is an integral part of daily life that encourages laughter and merriment, and fuels our imagination on dreary Pacific Northwest days when we are at home dreaming of lavender, laughter and golden sunsets.

We hope Pistou and Pastis acts as a metaphor to inspire home cooks to be more free and fearless in the kitchen, and to use the seasons like other people use cookbooks.

Week by week, we will share beautiful dishes made with what what we found at the farmers market. Sometimes the pastis will inspire a long dialogue, other times simply a great recipe quickly posted to share. Foods that profoundly touch your soul, are one of the many treasures of life.

Francois, Lisa et Beaumont

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Meet Chef Francois

François grew up in a very French household in Chicago. His earliest attempts at cookery began with the filleting of his sister’s goldfish at age two and braising his pet rabbit at age seven. Eventually he stopped cooking his pets and became a Chef. Read More…